Eyes Open Wide
by sleepless.eremitess
Summary: When Hiccup's cousin, Edda, moves to Berk, she falls in love with the Dragon Riders' way of life, knowing all the while that her mother would never let her join them. However, when a rise in attacks from Tidal Class dragons puts the village's survival at risk, will it be Edda who finds the solution? Slight Fishlegs/OC, nothing too mushy, I promise. ;)
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Sadly, the How To Train Your Dragon universe does not belong to me. :(

 **Author's Note:** Now that I have finally figured out how to do author's notes, (XD) I will start by saying that this is my first ever fanfic! Please let me know what you think.

Thank you to my awesome beta, Asian_Inkwell. Go check out her stories! :D

 **Chapter One**

"Edda! Get down from there!"

A shrill voice startled her out of her daydream. Edda whipped her head round from the view out to sea and back down below to the rolling deck, where a tiny Hairy Hooligan woman stood, staring back at her with wide eyes.

Edda did not need to be told twice. Swiftly descending from the rigging, she landed, cat-like, on the wooden deck in front of her mother.

"Why do you do this to me?" Greta said faintly, pressing her hand to her undulating bosom, apparently somewhere in the vicinity of her beating heart.

"I'm very sorry, Mother," Edda said contritely, and she was. Sorry that her mother had not stayed below deck long enough to miss her antics. "How's Pa holding up?"

Greta sniffed pathetically in acknowledgement to her apology before answering. "His stomach is finally empty now, thank Thor. I told him he shouldn't eat before a sea voyage. Ohhh, how I wish we hadn't come!" she cried, hand now poised dramatically upon her brow.

It took a great deal of willpower for Edda to refrain from rolling her eyes. "It's only a few more hours, now, Mother. Then we'll be on dry land again, and Pa will be right as rain."

Greta gave another sniff. "I suppose so."

"Why don't I take another turn with Pa, now, and you stay up here and watch the waves? It's very relaxing." Edda didn't wait for a reply, taking a deep breath before descending into the bowels of the merchant ship.

She could smell her father before she saw him, her eyes taking time to adjust to the dim light. He sat huddled between two barrels of ale, with his head slumped back, exhausted, against the bulwark behind him, and a bucket clenched between his legs. Edda inspected the floor for spillages before sitting down next to him.

She put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "How're you doing?"

Einar gave a queasy half smile, still staring at the ceiling. "Better now, no thanks to your mother. If I hear another 'just swallow it down, dear' I'll jump off this cursed boat and swim to Berk. Whose idea was it to move there, again, anyway?"

Edda snorted. "Yours, I'm afraid, Pa."

Her father groaned. "We could at least have left your mother behind."

"Now, now, Pa. We couldn't possibly have kept Uncle Stoick separated from his beloved sister."

It was Einar's turn to snort. "Poor man. I wouldn't have wanted to have been around when he got that letter."

"Hiccup told me that Stoick locked himself in the house and wouldn't come out for the whole day."

"I can only imagine." Her father winced as the boat hit several huge waves, clutching at his bucket with white knuckles.

"It's getting choppy out there," Edda remarked, bemused. A clear view of the sky from the rigging moments earlier had revealed a blue sky, with fluffy, white clouds, without a sign of bad weather in sight.

It was the blood-curdling scream that assailed their ears from above, moments later, that alerted them to the fact that these were no ordinary waves. Sailors poured down from above-deck, shouting and clamouring for their weapons.

"Stay here," she ordered her father, leaping to her feet and appropriating a crossbow from an unsuspecting mariner.

She emerged onto a scene of chaos, ducking just in time to avoid a blast of boiling water from above. A glance from behind the shelter of a large barrel confirmed her suspicions. A Scauldron was attacking the ship, and her mother was right in the thick of it, frozen in fear. The dragon seemed to focus mainly on the attacking Vikings, and ignored her mother, but Edda wasn't about to take any chances.

Squinting in concentration, she aimed her crossbow at the snake-like neck and released, dealing it a glancing blow that drew its fire to her side of the ship. She didn't want to kill it if she could help it. Keeping hidden, she ducked and rolled behind any object that would give her cover, caught hold of her mother's arm and yanked, hard.

Greta might as well have been made of granite, for all the good it did. Shouting didn't do a thing, either.

"Move towards the aft!" Edda yelled, hoping that the men around her would listen. They didn't. She swallowed down a scream of frustration, still trying to yank her mother away from the frenzy. Stupid, stubborn Vikings!

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a brief flicker of shadow cross the sun and disappear behind the prow of the ship. A strange, building, high-pitched sound made her breathe a sigh of relief. A second later, a Night Fury and its rider wheeled round into sight. Firing a few warning shots at the Scauldron, they kept it distracted as the other dragon riders appeared and surrounded it from all sides. Realising he was outnumbered, the behemoth gave a great roar, and disappeared beneath the waves.

Toothless wheeled round once more at a leisurely pace, and landed lightly on the deck. Hiccup dismounted and ran over to them.

"Hey, are you guys okay?"

Edda poked her mother's arm experimentally before Hiccup enfolded her in hug. "We're both mercifully unscalded, but it seems Mother is still in shock. . ."

Hiccup waved a hand in front of his aunt's face. "You know," he said slowly, eyeing the barrel of fish beside them, "I have heard that eel helmet decorations are all the rage in the more fashionable parts of Berk."

Edda smiled through gritted teeth. "Don't tempt me."

"That bad, huh?"

"You have to ask?" Edda raised an eyebrow, turning as a Deadly Nadder and its rider landed on the deck behind him.

"Astrid!" Hiccup beckoned her over. "This is my cousin, Edda."

The strong, slender blonde dismounted and strode over to them, smiling brilliantly. Edda shrunk a little under her confidence, and forced a timid smile. Holding out a hand, she was taken aback when, instead of taking it, Astrid flung her arms around her and squeezed.

"It's so good to meet you, finally!" the older girl exclaimed, giving Edda time to recover her composure.

"So, you're the famous Astrid," she gave a sly sideways glance at her cousin, "Hiccup never stops talking about you."

"I-" Hiccup began, stopping as Astrid held up her hand.

"Oh, really?" she said, winking at Edda, "What has he told you?"

"Oh, only little things. . ." Edda trailed off deliberately, "Your astonishing beauty. . . rapier wit, incredible charm-"

"Ha ha, very funny, you two," Hiccup interrupted, drily. "Something tells me I'm gonna regret introducing you."

A gentle rumbling sound came from behind them. Edda started at the feel of cool, smooth scales pressed into her palm. Turning around, she greeted Toothless enthusiastically. "I'm sorry, boy, did we forget about you? What a good boy, chasing that big, scary Scauldron away!"

The sleek, black reptile rolled on his back, and rumbled away happily as Edda gave him a thorough belly scratch.

Hiccup laughed. "Someone's pleased to see you!"

A nudge at her shoulder caught her attention. Astrid's dragon stood at her side, clearly jealous of all the attention Toothless was getting. "Well, hello there, beautiful! You must be Stormfly."

Stormfly also received a good scratch for her troubles. Astrid laughed from behind them. "You'll just encourage her, you know."

"Oh well," said Edda, mostly to Stormfly. "We can live with that, can't we, girl?"

Stormfly made her strange gurgling noises in agreement.

Edda looked up as someone cleared their throat. A young Viking leered down at her from the back of a rather bored-looking Monstrous Nightmare. Hovering near him was a large blond boy riding a Gronckle.

"Ah, yes," said Hiccup, "Edda, meet the gang: Snotlout and Hookfang," - Snotlout leered even more - "Fishlegs and Meatlug," - Fishlegs gave a timid wave - "and the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and Barf and Belch. Guys?" said Hiccup, as the twins failed to appear.

"Do you think she's blind?"

"Nah, your eyes turn red when you go blind."

"Oh. Really? That's so cool! I wanna go blind. . ."

The oblivious Ruffnut and Tuffnut were hanging upside down from their respective dragon heads, pulling hideous faces at Edda's mother. Greta, of course, had to choose that very moment to come out of her trance.

"Arrrrrrggghhhhhhhhhh!" said her mother, and promptly fainted. Toothless caught her with his great head before she hit the deck.

Edda covered her eyes with her hand. "Let's just hope she doesn't remember that when she wakes up."

Astrid winced. "That's enough to scar you for life."

"Aunt Greta, meet the twins," Hiccup remarked drily.

Edda turned as she heard her father's unsteady footsteps across the deck, and rushed over to hold him up. "Pa! I'm so sorry, I forgot to come get you."

Einar waved it off. He looked even more haggard in the sunlight.

"Uncle Einar!" Hiccup strode over to greet him, gently. "I'm afraid Aunt Greta's had a bit of a shock," he said, with an apologetic glance over to the unconscious form on Toothless' back.

Edda's father took a dispassionate glance at his wife. "Best thing for her."

The two cousins snorted.

"I just thank Odin you found us in time." Einar squeezed Hiccup's shoulder appreciatively.

"You can thank my Dad for that, too," Hiccup gave a one-sided smile. "He thought you would appreciate not having to travel the last few hours by boat."

Einar laughed. "I certainly would! My brother-in-law knows me well. Might I suggest we get going before my wife wakes up?"

"Of course!" Hiccup grinned. "Astrid, you take Edda. Snotlout, you can take Uncle Einar, if you wouldn't mind?" Snotlout and her father eyed each other and produced identical, unconvincing smiles.

Hiccup patted Einar's shoulder reassuringly. "Hookfang is the smoothest ride, other than Toothless, but, uh. . . Aunt Greta's already bagged him."

Einar shrugged, feigning indifference. "So long as we leave the ocean far below us, I'll be happy."

"So that's settled, then," said Hiccup. "Saddle up, guys!"

Astrid mounted Stormfly, and held out a hand for the considerably smaller Edda to clamber up. The leather saddle creaked as she got on behind her, settling into the comfortable black sheepskin.

"Good to go?" asked Astrid, giving her a sidelong grin.

"I think so. . ." said Edda, suddenly worried about what she'd got herself into.

"Great! Up we go, Stormfly!"

Edda held back a shriek as Stormfly launched herself into the air, grabbing hold of Astrid's waist and clinging to her for dear life. Astrid laughed in response. Stormfly flapped her wings harder and harder, pushing them up into the air until a sea breeze caught them and lifted them up into a gentle glide.

Gradually, Edda's vice-like grip on Astrid's waist relaxed, and she started to look around. Toothless wasn't far away, circling on the same breeze, and Hiccup gave them a cheery wave. Far below them, the enormous Hookfang had landed on the deck of the merchant ship, and Snotlout was ineptly attempting to help her father climb up into the saddle.

The ship's crew, recovered from the Scauldron attack, gathered on deck to cheer and wave them off. The dragon riders waved back, all except for Einar, who clung resolutely to the sides of Hookfang's saddle as he took to the air. They were off.

Stormfly picked up speed, following closely in Toothless' wake. Edda found herself laughing from the pure joy of it. A side-wind picked up strands of her long hair and tossed them over her face, till she was seeing the world through a red haze. She faced into the wind and braided her hair into a makeshift plait, stuffing it into the hood of her fur coat. Minutes passed that felt like hours. She could spend an eternity up here.

"Hey, Edda!" Astrid shouted over her shoulder above the rushing wind. "Fancy doing some real flying?"

This isn't real flying? "Better check if my mother is still unconscious, first," Edda replied. Astrid took them in closer to Hiccup, who had secured Greta's limp body to Toothless' back with ropes. He saw them looking and gave them a thumbs up.

"Fantastic!" yelled Astrid. "Let's go for it!"

"Hang on! I didn't say yes!" squeaked Edda, but Astrid didn't hear her. She squeezed Stormfly's side, and the dragon responded by pulsing her wings rapidly, propelling them into the sky like a slingshot. Suddenly, without warning, Stormfly stopped all movement and nosedived till they were almost vertical in the air.

The speed was so intense, Edda could feel the skin of her face pulled back by the sheer force of it. She yelled aloud, not from fear as much as exhilaration. Astrid joined in, whooping and yelling like a Berserker. As they neared a sea-stack, however, Edda's yells turned to shrieks.

She needn't have worried. Stormfly pulled up her wings till they caught the air, slowing them so she could make a sharp turn through the open arch beneath, which Edda had not seen.

They continued to dive, flying so close to the sea that she could feel the salt spray on her face, pulling up just before they hit the water. Astrid let out another whoop.

"Wasn't that fantastic?" she yelled.

"I will admit it, it's pretty amazing. But for Odin's sake, you could've warned me about that sea-stack!" Edda pinched Astrid's arm from behind.

"Where would be the fun in that?" she laughed, unfazed.

Toothless soon caught up, flying steadily as he had been to keep Greta safe. He lifted his head and fired off a plasma blast, which dispersed into the air like a firework. Stormfly and the other dragons joined in, setting the sky ablaze above them. Edda's skin broke out in goosepimples, and she was certain it was not from the cold.

Just at that moment, they rounded the corner of a great cliff, and Berk was revealed, laid out before them in all its glory. Flags and banners, perches and landing runs for the dragons, stables and houses and feeding stations, all were painted in every colour imaginable, no longer restricted by the frugality of years past. Berk was prospering.

More importantly, it was filled with people. Edda eyed the crowds of Vikings with wonder, suppressing a surge of hope that her lonely existence on a farm with only her parents for company was finally over. She knew her father intended to buy another farm further inland, and her mother would never let her have a dragon. Why, she would pass out all over again if she knew that Edda was on the back of one right now!

She pushed those thoughts aside, deciding to focus on the present. Who knew what the future held? Right now, it seemed more promising than ever.

The sun was setting over Berk as the dragons circled in to land on a long platform, attached to a large, green building on the eastern, lower cliff-face of Berk. A set of stairs carved into the cliff led back up to the village. The others dismounted, and Astrid and Edda followed suit.

"Fishlegs, would you take Stormfly in for me?" Astrid asked. "I'm joining Edda's family for dinner."

"Sure, no problem, Astrid. Have a good time." The lad gave Edda a shy smile before leading Stormfly away to the large building, presumably the stables. Edda groaned and stretched her legs. Thor, her hamstring was killing her!

Astrid barked a laugh. "Hurts, doesn't it? I remember the first time I rode Stormfly. I ached for weeks! You get used to it, though."

"I only hope I get the chance to get used to it. There's no way Mother is going to let me ride again."

Astrid gave her a sympathetic look. "Well," she joked, "She's still unconscious, so there's hope yet!"

Edda turned to Toothless, who saw her looking and crooned. Mother still lay on his back, mercifully still out of it, as Astrid had said. Einar walked up to them and eyed his wife's not inconsiderable form with a frown. Hiccup cocked a smile at them both. "Don't worry, Toothless will carry her up. There's a landing spot just outside our house."

"Thank Thor," Edda heard her father mutter under his breath, and suppressed a laugh. It wouldn't do to make fun of her mother in front of non-family members, no matter how few qualms her father had about doing so.

They made their way up the roughly-hewn steps, and took the road up to the Chief's house. Edda's legs were already shaking, and started to feel as if they were about to give way. Mercifully, as they crested the top of the hill, the house came into sight.

Toothless and Hiccup were waiting for them inside. They had untied Greta and rolled her onto the spare bed, just across the hallway from the hearth. A large pot bubbled away over the fire, and everyone huddled round it. Edda collapsed into the cushions, exhausted and hungry.

"I put the stew on earlier," said Hiccup, handing out bowls and spoons, "It should be done by now. No point waiting for Dad, he'll be out doing Chief stuff for a while yet."

Edda laughed as she held out her bowl. "'Chief stuff?' Is that what you call it? Watch it, Hiccup, you'll be doing all that 'Chief stuff' yourself one day."

Hiccup dolloped the stew into her bowl with a little more force than was necessary, splashing her a little in the process. "Thank you, Edda, I am all too aware of that."

"Seriously, though, don't sweat it, Hiccup," she said. "Us Haddocks tend to live to a ripe old age, and you know how stubborn Uncle Stoick is. It'll be years before he hands over the reins."

Hiccup grunted in response. As if summoned, the door swung open behind them, and Stoick's heavy footsteps thumped across the floor. The humongous man was not his usual self, trying in vain to compact his giant body into a smaller, more submissive stance. He glanced across the room furtively, looking for someone. Edda did not need to guess who.

"It's alright, Stoick," Einar reassured his brother-in-law. "She's in the spare room, dead to the world."

Stoick visibly relaxed, coming over to the fire and to warm his tired bones and greet the rest of his extended family. Edda found herself enveloped in an enormous bear hug, her face pressed into his fur coat so tightly that she couldn't breathe. Astrid saw her predicament, and dove in with a question.

"You're home early, Chief. What happened?"

Stoick, sufficiently distracted, released Edda from his grip. She sat down suddenly on the cushions, vaguely wondering when the spots dancing across her vision would go away. Astrid handed her back her bowl, and she took it automatically.

"One of Silent Sven's yaks had got caught in a stray dragon trap we must have missed. I went out to help, but by the time I got there, some of the other villagers had got their dragons to pull it open." Stoick sighed. "It's times like these I miss Thornado."

Hiccup patted his father's arm. "Don't worry, Dad. We'll find you another dragon."

Stoick had been trying to keep his voice down so as not to wake his sister, but all he managed was a slightly quieter boom than usual. His brief respite was cruelly ended, as roused by the sound of her brother's voice, Greta appeared in the doorway behind him. Edda braced herself.

"Stoick! You told me that dragons were safe now! One attacked us on the way here!"

Stoick winced, took a deep breath, and turned to face her.

"I said the tame ones were safe, sister dear. I never said anything about the wild ones."

"Well, you should have warned us," she sniffed.

"I didn't think that I needed to." Stoick said this with painstaking calm.

"Well, you were wrong," Greta said haughtily. Edda looked on as Stoick visibly held back a retort. After all these years, her uncle knew that reasoning with her mother was a waste of breath. Silently, he bent down and ladled his sister a bowl of stew.

Greta took it without acknowledgement. After a brief pause, she then proceeded to criticise her brother's appearance, that of his house, and, further, his 'neglectful parenting' in allowing Hiccup to ride a dragon.

"I would certainly never allow my daughter to continue to do something so dangerous after losing a limb to it," she pursed her lips.

Edda winced and mouthed an apology at Hiccup across the fireplace, but he simply smiled and shrugged it off. He was used to his aunt's insensitivity. It hit a nerve with Stoick, however. He leapt into defensive mode.

"Hiccup lost his leg saving our entire village. If it hadn't been for Toothless, he would have died!"

Greta, realising she had gone too far, sniffed and went back to her stew.

Astrid broke the silence. "Well, this has been lovely, but I'm afraid my mom will want me back now."

Edda thought she heard Hiccup mutter "Coward!" under his breath. Astrid smiled pleasantly and elbowed him in the ribs.

"But before I go, I made some of my special yaknog for you, earlier." She disappeared into the larder. Edda raised an eyebrow as her cousin turned an alarming shade of green.

Astrid reappeared with a tray containing several mugs, filled with an unidentifiable liquid. "I normally only make it for Snoggletog, but I figured this was a special occasion, too." Edda took the proffered mug with a wary smile. Cautiously, she took a sip.

It was vile. Possibly viler that anything she had ever tasted before. She fought the urge to gag.

"What do you think?" Astrid smiled broadly at her.

"Mmmm. Mmm-mm!" Edda managed, unable to swallow the disgusting concoction.

"I'm so glad you like it," Astrid said, happily. "Now, I really should go. Sleep well! See you all tomorrow!"

The door slammed shut behind her. With one accord, everyone spat their yaknog into the fire. The dwindling fire fizzled out with one last, worryingly green, flame.

"I don't even want to know what she puts in that," said Stoick, staring into his mug. Hiccup stood up and collected the mugs from them.

"Well, whatever it is, according to Phlegma, the plants love it!" he said, disappearing into the larder.

"At least something does. Even the dragons won't touch it." Stoick grimaced at one such dragon, curled up in the corner with his basket of salmon. "And believe me, I've tried."

Hiccup entered once again with clean mugs and a jug of water. Edda washed the taste from her mouth gratefully.

"I suppose we'd best be getting to bed," said Einar, mid-yawn.

"Of course. You and Greta are in the spare room," said Stoick, rubbing his eyes blearily, "And Hiccup has set up a cot for you on the landing, Edda. I'm off, now, myself."

"Thank you, Uncle Stoick." Edda kissed him goodnight, trying, and failing, to avoid his great, bushy beard.

One and all departed to bed. As usual, however, Edda could not sleep, despite her exhaustion. She crept downstairs once more, where Toothless still lay, and curled up next to him on the floor. The sleepy dragon laid his paw over her, and nuzzled affectionately into her hair. Edda smiled, content to simply lay there until sleep came.

She wanted to make the most of this. Tomorrow, her parents were going out to inspect a farm that was up for sale. If they liked it, she would be leaving the day afterward. She didn't want to go. She didn't want this to end. So she lay there and pretended it wouldn't. Sleep came quicker than usual, after that.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** Regrettably, the How to Train Your Dragon universe belongs to Dreamworks and Ms. Cressida Cowell, not myself.

 **Author's Note:** Thank you to my fabulous beta, **Asian_Inkwell** , and to all those who followed, favourited, and reviewed! I hope you enjoy this latest installment!

 **Chapter Two**

Edda awoke to the smell of bacon cooking over the fire. Her stomach rumbled. Poking her head over the bannister, she assessed the situation. Her parents were huddled round the fire, eating breakfast. Part of her wanted to wait till they were gone before going down to eat, herself, but she was too hungry.

"Morning, Ed!" her father said, cheerily, as she clambered, barefoot, down the stairs.

"Morning, Pa," she yawned, "Mother." Greta nodded.

"Where's Hiccup?" Edda asked, tucking into her bacon.

"Ah," said Einar, frowning. "There's been another Scauldron attack this morning. A fishing boat, this time. Hiccup and the others have gone out to get rid of it."

"Oh dear, I wonder what's got them so upset?" Edda chewed thoughtfully on her bacon. "What about Uncle Stoick?"

"He went out early, this morning. Said he had things to do." Edda held back a snort. Anything to get away from his sister. She couldn't say she blamed him.

"That reminds me," Einar added, standing up and stretching. "He asked if you could go down to the blacksmith's and collect his axe at some point today, seeing as you're staying behind. He's just had it sharpened."

"That's fine," said Edda.

"Good girl." Her father ruffled her hair. "We'd better be off, now. The owner is expecting us at the farm by mid-morning. Ready, my dear?"

Greta heaved herself to her feet, and put her coat on. Edda joined them at the door. A horse and cart stood outside, waiting for them. She kissed them both on the cheek, and watched as they got onto the cart.

"Travel safely! Have a lovely time!" she called, waving.

With a plaintive squeak, and a rumble, the cart carried her parents off up the hill. Edda breathed a sigh of relief. Now she could go back to bed.

The sun was high in the sky when Edda awoke once more, having finally got enough sleep. Reaching for her coat and fastening it tightly, stuffing some lunch into her pockets in the form of bread and cheese, Edda stepped outside.

The morning hustle and bustle had long since started in Berk, and she drank it all in. The sea air was crisp and salty, and seagulls wheeled and screeched overhead. She followed the roads and walkways down toward the blacksmith's, ducking underneath stray dragons and dodging carts of vegetables.

Edda followed the directions given her by a friendly neighbour, and soon found the place she was looking for. A great, tall man, with a peg leg and a hammer for an arm, stood beside the forge. He seemed to be engaged in a scintillating conversation with the unremarkable-looking, white sheep at his side, so much so that Edda was almost loathe to interrupt.

"Those dastardly trolls have been at it, again, Phil. Why do you suppose they only steal my left socks?" Phil chewed his mouthful of grass. "Ah Phil, you are a fine chap. Has anybody told you that?"

Edda decided on a discreet cough. The man looked up, and smiled broadly.

"Ah, you must be Edda, Stoick's niece! You look just like your mother did at your age. I'm Gobber, pleased to meet you." Gobber stuck out his prosthetic hand for her to shake.

Edda held the well-worn hammer awkwardly and shook it up and down. Beside her, Phil bleated.

"Ah, yes, of course. Edda, this is Phil the sheep."

Edda crouched down to the sheep's eye-level. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Phil," she said solemnly, handing him a small chunk of her breakfast bread. He gobbled it down greedily, consenting to a pat on the head.

"He likes you!" Gobber bellowed happily.

Edda smiled wryly. "Most of my friends were sheep, back home."

"A fine choice in companions, my wee lass," said Gobber, "They're wonderful listeners. Well, some of them. Ah, I remember the times, when I was barely more than a boy, I would vent my broken heart to Phil's grandfather, Steve. Even when all the other sheep got bored and moved on to the next lump of grass, Steve stayed by my side. Some sheep are just better at listening than others. It runs in the blood, you know."

Edda raised a mischievous eyebrow. "And what wondrous, buxom beauty was it who broke your heart, Gobber?"

Gobber leaned in close, and cupped his hand conspiratorially around his mouth. "It was your mother," he said, in a quieter bellow than usual.

Edda's eyebrows made a break for her hairline.

"Ah, it's alright, lass. I realised the error of my ways long ago," Gobber beckoned her into the smithy, inhaling the coal smoke like some kind of rich perfume. Edda's eyes stung.

"She was never interested, anyway. I didn't really get the message at the time, though. I think it was when she pushed me off that cliff over there that it finally clicked." He waved his prosthetic arm around vaguely behind him, forcing Edda to duck out of the way.

She whistled. "That was some flaming arrowhead you missed, there."

"Ah, but she was a beauty, you see. That's all that matters when you're young." Gobber sounded wistful. "Anyway, enough about that. Here's Stoick's axe, nice and sharp again. Watch you don't slice yourself on it."

"Oof," said Edda, as Gobber dumped the great thing in her arms. It must have weighed about as much as she did.

"That's great," she strained out, "Thanks, Gobber!"

The huge man waved her off cheerfully, without noticing her struggle. Fortunately, she spied a wheelbarrow nearby, clearly used for transporting coals, and heaved Stoick's axe into that. Gobber's furnace was well stocked for the time being, and she would bring the wheelbarrow back right away.

Edda made it to the main marketplace before she had to stop and catch her breath. She wedged the wheelbarrow against a small rock for a minute and sat beside it, observing the comings and goings before her. A small commotion at a nearby wool stall caught her attention. Quite a crowd had gathered, by this point, and she could not see what was happening.

Edda made her way over, ducking under arms and legs, threading her way towards the centre. There were _some_ compensations for being short. A tiny, elderly woman, even shorter than Edda, herself, was attempting to communicate with the seller, scratching furiously on the ground with her staff. Everyone was straining over each other, trying to decipher the marks she was making. Her staff distinguished her as the village elder, and she was, evidently, mute.

Once she got close enough to see, Edda recognised the markings instantly. It was the writings of the old language, which few people could read. Fortunately, her lack of friends, growing up, had encouraged her to read every book she could get her hands on, learning the writing of the old language so that she could read the old classics, as well.

Stepping up to the elderly woman, who was getting more and more frustrated by her failed attempts to communicate, Edda laid a gentle hand on her hunched back.

"Hi there. My name is Edda," she said, soothingly. "I can read the old language. What do you need me to say?"

The woman sighed audibly, and pointed her staff over to what must have been her first attempt. Edda valiantly ignored the imaginative swear words surrounding it, evidently from her later attempts, and concentrated on what she had written. She looked up at the harassed stall-holder, and relayed the old woman's instructions to her.

"She says she needs some pre-spun yarn to knit some new socks with. Her hands are too sore to spin the raw wool any more. Do you have any?"

The stall-holder, looking relieved, nodded her head. "How many does she want?"

The old woman held up four fingers. The stall-holder retrieved four balls of yarn from behind the stall.

"That'll be one copper piece, please, Gothi," she said.

Gothi handed over the coin, and Edda helped her put the balls of yarn in her basket. The crowds around them dispersed. Gothi smiled up at her, and scratched on the ground once more.

Edda smiled back. "You're welcome."

A flock of Terrible Terrors, presumably frightened off by the crowds, flew back down to Gothi. She greeted them happily, and tossed them some minnows, from her belt-pouch. Edda, satisfied, turned back to her wheelbarrow. It wasn't there.

A loud yell from further down the hill revealed its new location. It was hurtling down the walkway to the docks, contents and all, straight towards the sea. Men and women flung themselves to the sides of the road, away from its path. Edda broke into a run.

"No, no, no, no, nooo!" She yelled, chasing after it. She knew it was useless - she was never going to get there in time.

Just then, a loud fluttering of wings made her glance up. Gothi's Terrible Terrors were speeding ahead of her. Barely had the rogue wheelbarrow reached the curve of the walkway, when one managed to snatch up Stoick's axe. The wheelbarrow fell into the ocean with a loud splash.

Edda screeched to a stop, before gravity condemned her to the same fate. The little dragon who had grabbed the axe was wilting under its weight. The others grabbed the handle and righted him before he dropped to the floor. The flock delivered it straight into Edda's grateful arms.

"Thank you . . . so much." she said, between gasps for breath.

The dragons chirped at her before flying back to Gothi, who was standing a little way off, looking amused. Edda dragged herself and the axe back up the hill, again. She gave the old woman a rueful smile.

"Someone must have knocked it. Looks like I'll have to buy Gobber a new wheelbarrow." Gothi laughed silently. "I'd better get back to Uncle Stoick and deliver this to him. Will you be okay, now?"

The village elder nodded. Edda looked up at the Terrible Terrors gathered around her, and addressed them: "You look after Gothi, now, won't you?"

The little dragons chirped with one accord. Gothi waved goodbye, and Edda continued the long slog back up to Stoick's house. Why, oh why, did he have to build his house right at the top of the hill? Men. . .

When she finally got there, Stoick had not yet arrived back, so she left his axe on the dining table for him to find later. She fetched some lamb and vegetables from the larder, and prepared them to cook, later. She had just finished, when she heard a rush of powerful wings outside. She scrambled to the door once more. Toothless crooned a greeting.

"Edda!" Hiccup exclaimed, dismounting. "I'm so sorry we weren't here this morning. There was another Scauldron attack, did Dad tell you?"

Edda nodded. "Don't worry about it, Hiccup, it was hardly your fault. Are you all okay?"

"A little tired, that's all. This dragon was a lot more aggressive than the one that attacked your ship, yesterday. It took a lot of convincing to get him to leave." Hiccup put his hands on his back and stretched his aching muscles.

By this point, the others had joined them. Snotlout chimed in.

"Yeah, we showed that Scauldron who's boss, didn't we, Hookfang?" Hookfang huffed, a ring of smoke ascending from one nostril.

"More like, you hid behind the other side of the ship until the last possible moment," Astrid scoffed.

"The sun was in my eyes, Astrid!" Snotlout began. Astrid held up a hand.

"Let me guess. You would've blocked out the sun, but you were too busy fighting off the Scauldron on the other side of the ship."

". . . Yeah." Snotlout folded his arms. Hiccup pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed.

"It's strange," Fishlegs mused to himself. "Scauldrons _are_ pretty aggressive, but I've never seen one so determined before."

Hiccup stroked his chin. "It was almost like he didn't care if he got hurt."

"That was one badass dragon." Tuffnut grinned.

"Yeah," said Ruffnut. "We even doused him with Zippleback gas, and he didn't flinch."

Edda wished she had some theory to put forward, but she knew far too little about Scauldrons to be of any use. Or dragons in general, for that matter. She voiced this to the gang.

"Well," said Astrid, brightly. "Why don't we help you with that?"

"Good idea, Astrid," Hiccup smiled. "We can take Edda down to the stables, introduce her to the other dragons."

Snotlout sidled up to her, and put his arm round her shoulders. "Yeah, Edda. Let me show you around."

Edda looked up into his leering face. He was pretty short from this vantage point, only an inch or so taller than her. The perfect height for her to be able to knee in the groin, in fact. She was saved from having to expend her valuable energy in this way by Hiccup, who extricated her from Snotlout's sweaty armpit and helped her climb aboard Toothless.

Flying on Toothless was another experience, altogether. Riding Stormfly was what she imagined it would be like to fly on the back of a giant bird. Toothless was as sleek and silent as a bat. Even the brief flight she experienced, before Hiccup set them down on the landing perch to the stables, was enough to give her an idea of the incredible speed and power this dragon was capable of.

On foot, Toothless transformed back into his tamer self, butting Hiccup's hand with his head and crooning. The gang led her into the stables, accompanied by their dragons.

The building led into an underground cavern system, beneath Berk. High, vaulted ceilings provided space for the kind of high-altitude nests most of the dragons were used to, in the wild. The enormous space was filled with growls and chirps, squeaks and roars - every dragon noise under the sun. It was alive.

Edda stood there with her mouth agape. Hiccup turned to his cousin and laughed.

"It's amazing, isn't it?"

Edda blinked. "'Amazing' doesn't even describe it."

The others were leading their dragons away to their respective stables. She climbed up the ladders and followed Astrid, watching as she removed Stormfly's saddle and gave her a good scratch where it had been. Stormfly buried her nose in her trough of fish and ate her fill. Satisfied, she began to preen herself.

"She spends pretty much all her time preening, don't you, girl?" Astrid smiled, leaning against the stable door. "Deadly Nadders are incredibly vain."

"Well, she _is_ beautiful." Edda gazed at Stormfly's gleaming scales. The dragon, aware she was being admired, puffed out her chest and shook her wings.

Astrid laughed. "And she knows it!" She handed Edda a piece of chicken. "Throw her this, she loves it."

Edda tossed Stormfly the drumstick, which she caught in mid-air and wolfed down her throat. "Good girl," Edda smiled, scratching Stormfly's nose.

Fishlegs and Meatlug were in the next stall. Edda poked her head over the dividing wall. Fishlegs was throwing his Gronckle an assortment of different rocks, which she was crunching down happily.

"Your dragon eats rocks?" Edda exclaimed. Fishlegs looked up with a start, his cheeks colouring.

"Yeah. . . Um, do you want to try?"

"Sure!" Edda made her way into Meatlug's stable.

"Here," said Fishlegs, handing her a piece of sandstone. Edda tentatively offered it to Meatlug, who took it gently with her tongue. "Now, watch this!"

Fishlegs produced a feather from his belt-pouch, and proceeded to tickle Meatlug's belly with it. Grumbling in pleasure, the dragon spewed the contents of her stomach back out again. Once the molten liquid had cooled, Fishlegs picked up a pair of tongs lying nearby, and lifted it up to the light. Edda could now see that it had formed some kind of blue glass.

"I fed her cobalt before you added the sandstone," Fishlegs explained. "That's why it's blue."

"Wow!" Edda looked at the Gronckle in wonder, and laid her palm on her lumpy head. Meatlug's nostrils flared happily. "Your dragon is amazing."

Fishlegs flushed in pleasure. "She sure is. Here, give her some dragon nip, she loves it."

Edda took the proffered dragon nip from him, and held it up to Meatlug's face. The Gronckle's eyes grew wide, and she started to rub her face against it, entranced by the smell.

"I've never met a dragon who doesn't enjoy dragon nip," Fishlegs said. "Why don't you take this handful and give it to the other dragons?"

"That's awesome! Thank you, Fishlegs." Edda took the dragon nip and made her way towards the twin's stall.

"Yeeaaahhh! Bat the Nut!"

Ruffnut and Tuffnut were hanging upside down from the rafters, as Barf and Belch headbutted them from both sides. Snotlout came and stood next to her as she watched.

"That looks. . . painful," she commented, as the twins repeatedly collided in the middle.

"Eh, it's Ruff and Tuff. Pain is their thing." Snotlout crossed his arms. "Not that, you know, I don't like pain, myself," he added, hurriedly.

"Well," said Edda, ignoring his attempt to sound tough, "The twins are obviously busy. Why don't you introduce me to Hookfang?"

"Awesome! I mean, sure, follow me."

The Monstrous Nightmare was busy tucking in to his fish. Edda put a hand out to stroke his head.

"Careful!" Snotlout exclaimed. Edda retracted her hand quickly. He gave a nervous laugh. "He's, uh, a bit protective of his food."

Hookfang looked up from his fish, regarding them both with hooded eyes. Edda reached for her dragon nip, and held a stalk out to him, with some trepidation. Bending his head, the great dragon buried his nose in the plant. Encouraged, she gently rubbed his face with it. Hookfang flopped to the floor with a blissful huff of smoke.

"He likes you!" Snotlout beamed. She grinned back at him. Unfortunately, he took this as encouragement to put his arm around her once again. Edda glared at him until he removed it.

"So," she said, carrying on as normal. "What can Hookfang do?"

"Hookfang is the coolest dragon out there," Snotlout smirked. "He can set his whole body on fire! Hookfang, fire up!"

Hookfang ignored him, continuing to tuck into his fish. Snotlout gave another nervous laugh. "He doesn't normally do this. _Hookfang_!"

Hookfang glanced up, and huffed a lazy ring of smoke at his rider. Edda laughed. "Maybe next time, hey, boy?"

"Stupid dragon," she heard Snotlout mutter under his breath.

The others joined them, having seen to their dragons. Hiccup laughed. "Not in the mood, huh, Hookfang?"

"Nope," said Edda, deciding to change the subject. "Hey, it's nearly dinner-time! You guys must be starving!"

"We are!" Astrid declared. Fishlegs' stomach rumbled in agreement. Embarrassed, he wrapped his arms around his belly and looked around to see if anyone had noticed.

"Thanks for showing me around, everyone." Edda beamed round at the gang. "I suppose we'd all better head back for dinner, now."

"Yeah," said Tuffnut. "I'm so hungry, I could eat a dragon!" One of their dragon heads extended its long neck over its stable door to look at him. "Not you, Belch. Probably Meatlug or something."

"You leave my baby girl alone!" Fishlegs put his hands on his hips, menacingly. Astrid placed a soothing hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay, Fishlegs, he was just joking. Right, Tuff?"

"Hmm," Tuffnut considered. "No, not really."

Astrid covered her eyes with the palm of her hand. Fishlegs edged toward Meatlug, protectively.

"You're coming home with me, tonight, girl," he said, glaring pointedly at Tuffnut.

Hiccup sighed. "Come on then, bud," he called to Toothless. "Let's go home."

With a friendly growl and a wave, Hiccup and Edda took off. Nearing the house, Edda's heart sunk as she saw the horse and cart outside. Her parents were home.

She edged the door open, experimentally. Greta, Einar, and Stoick were sat around the dinner table, tucking into their meat. Toothless slunk by Greta, to his corner under the stairs. Her mother eyed him with suspicion, but didn't say anything. In fact, she seemed to be in a fairly good mood. Stoick certainly looked a little more relaxed than he had been before. Hiccup, sensing it was safe, followed her inside.

"Hello, you two!" said Einar, cheerily. "Where have you been?"

Edda chose her words carefully, aware that her mother was listening. "Hiccup's been showing me around. So, how was the farm?"

Her father grinned. "It was great!" he bellowed, in the too-loud voice he used after a flagon of mead, or two. "It's all ready, just like the owner promised. We'll be moving in tomorrow, as arranged."

Edda pulled out a chair for herself, trying desperately to ignore the sickening lurch her heart gave at his words. She stared at the plate in front of her. Suddenly, she didn't feel hungry.

"Th-that's fantastic!" she managed to force out. Hiccup sensed her distress.

"I'm so glad for you, Uncle. Lurch has always made good profits from that farm. He's retiring comfortably in his own house in Berk, now."

Einar murmured in agreement, busy stuffing lamb into his face. Her mother was silent. It was a good sign. She only opened her mouth when she wanted to complain.

"How's your day been, Uncle?" Edda asked, having finally managed to masticate her food enough to swallow it.

Stoick heaved a sigh. "Difficult, thanks to those blasted Scauldrons. If they carry on like this, we'll be facing a fish shortage."

Edda murmured in sympathy. She wasn't particularly keen on fish, herself, but it was a staple for Vikings and dragons alike. Berk depended on them.

"Not to mention, with Hiccup and the riders kept busy, there's no one to see to the stables." Stoick laid his great head in his hand.

"I'm sorry, Dad," said Hiccup. "Toothless and I would help with the stables, but we're already spending most of the day dealing with the rogue dragons."

Stoick laid a hand on his son's arm. "It's okay, Hiccup. We know you're doing everything you can."

Wheels turned in Edda's head. Stoick needed someone to look after the stables? What if she volunteered? He seemed desperate enough to be willing to defy his sister. Maybe she could stay in Berk, after all?

These thoughts consumed her throughout the rest of the meal, and long after everyone else had gone to bed. Edda sighed in exasperation. There was nothing she could do till morning. She might as well get up and do something productive instead of lying there, worrying. Something Hiccup had said to her in one of his letters came to mind. Didn't he say they kept a dragon manual in the Great Hall?

Edda rose and put on her father's coat. It was too big for her, but this only meant that it covered her down to the knees and was even warmer than her own. Slipping on her boots, she ventured out into the cold night air, closing the door quietly behind her. Braziers were still lit outside the Great Hall, guiding her way. Creaking open the huge doors, she was relieved to discover that the embers were still burning in both the enormous firepits inside.

She took some firewood from the pile that lined the inner walls, and carefully stoked the embers back into healthy flames. Taking a burning stick, she lit herself a candle and went looking for the dragon manual.

She did not have to look for long. It lay, in pride of place, at the head of the long table, where Stoick usually sat. Edda read the runes on the cover, and stroked it reverently.

"The Book of Dragons," she whispered.

She took it gingerly back to her spot, and opened the cover. It was as if a whole new world had been opened up before her. She lost all track of time as she pored over its pages, discovering dragon after dragon, island after island. It was only after she could no longer keep her eyes focused on what she was reading that she finally gave in, and made her way back to the house.

Dragging her feet past the brazier, she thought she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. About to dismiss it as the imaginings of her over-tired brain, she spotted it again. A pair of hypnotising, yellow eyes gazed back at her, illuminated by the flames. Squinting past them, she made out a red, stalk-like tendril unfurling on the ground beside the brazier. A Changewing. She had just been reading about them.

Cautiously, all too aware of the potent acid-spitting she had just read about, Edda reached a hand into her belt-pouch. She knew she had some dragon nip left from earlier. Figuring the skittish dragon wouldn't come any closer, she laid it on the ground next to her, and walked away.

Resisting the urge to turn back and look, she reached the doorway of Stoick's house before she allowed herself a peek. The Changewing was rolling around in the light of the brazier, enjoying her gift. She watched as it scampered off into the night.

Edda sneaked back in to the house and settled into bed. She was fast asleep before her head even hit the pillow.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** Alas, How to Train Your Dragon does not belong to me.

 **Author's Note:** Thank you once again to my awesome beta, **Asian_Inkwell** , and to all those who favourited, followed, and reviewed! You guys are the best!

Sorry this chapter is a tad on the late side, I have been really poorly this week. Hope you enjoy it!

 **Chapter Three**

Edda awoke this time, not to the delicious smell of bacon, but to a sickening lurch of anxiety. She supposed it was due to this that she had awoken before everyone else in the house.

She sat on the edge of her makeshift cot, and stretched. Thor, her head hurt! Just when she needed to be able to think straight!

"Ugh, the gods hate me," she mumbled to herself. Toothless, stirring downstairs, gently rumbled back at her. Edda smiled, and tiptoed down the stairs. "Hey there, boy!" she whispered. "You'll let me stay, won't you?"

The Night Fury crooned as she scratched the flaps round his head, loving the attention. Unfortunately for her, he loved it a bit too much. The next thing she knew, Edda was being accosted by an enormous, wet, fishy, tongue. She struggled to escape the affectionate dragon, only to find herself pinned to the floor by Toothless' great paw.

"Toothless! Stop that!" came Hiccup's voice, from the stairs. Toothless withdrew, and looked up at his rider, sheepishly. Edda wiped the thick saliva from her face and gave Hiccup a rueful smile.

"Sorry about that," Hiccup grimaced. "He _knows_ it doesn't wash out." Toothless put his head down and slunk back into his corner.

Edda laughed. "It's okay. It's only my pyjamas. I guess I'm going to have to get dressed, now. . . and wash, while I'm at it."

Hiccup gave her an apologetic look. "I'll heat up some water for you."

"No, don't worry. It'll take too long, and I need to be clean by the time Mother wakes up. Thanks, though."

"I'll start cooking breakfast, then," Hiccup said. "You can always stand underneath one of the fire-fighter buckets round the back. Just pull on the rope. I'll refill it when you're done."

Edda thanked him, and went and fetched herself some clean clothes, along with a rag to dry herself with. Letting herself out of the back door, she laid them in a pile in the corner of the small yard. It was secluded there, behind the house, with only the sea and the cliffs to witness her ablutions.

She stripped down to her underclothes, shivering from the brisk, sea breeze. Stationing herself underneath one of the fire-fighter buckets, Edda braced herself, and pulled the release rope. The shock of the cold water was enough to make her screech. Uttering a few unladylike words, she grabbed the rag and dried herself off as best she could, while hopping up and down. Wringing her hair out, she clambered into her clothes and dashed back inside, to stand by the fire.

"What on Midgard, child?" exclaimed her mother, as she burst in.

"Oh, good morning, Mother," Edda shivered, forcing a bright smile. Her head pounded. "I fancied a nice wash outside in the fresh air, this morning."

Greta gave her a strange look. She must have thought she was crazy. She didn't really blame her. _Flaming_ _Toothless._ Edda felt like glaring at him when her mother's back was turned, but, looking over at his big, round eyes, all she could manage was a slight purse of the lips.

A frantic hammering at the door caught everyone's attention. Hiccup dashed over to answer it. A brawny fisherman stood at the entrance, prosthetic hook poised to pound on the door once again. Hiccup dodged out of the way to avoid having his eye gouged out.

"Mulch!" he said, brow furrowing. "Another dragon attack?"

"Two, this time!" Mulch exclaimed. "One off the eastern side of the island, and another beside the second-tallest sea-stack."

"I'll be right there." Hiccup grabbed his coat. He turned to Edda and Greta with an apologetic look. "Sorry guys. Looks like I won't be able to see you off, after all. I'll come visit you at the farm later. Come on, bud!"

Hiccup dashed out of the door, Toothless scampering out after him. Edda rushed to the door.

"Be safe!" she called out after him. Mulch turned to go, but a voice from the top of the stairs stopped him.

"Mulch." Stoick had emerged from his bedroom. "I heard everything. I'm issuing a ban on all ships leaving the harbour. Go and tell everyone," he ordered.

Mulch nodded, and hurried back down to the harbour. Edda shut the door. Stoick trudged downstairs, and eased his great form into his chair with a huge sigh. Her father wandered in, and warmed his hands by the fire. _Perfect. Another ally._ She handed her mother another plate of bacon. If her mouth was full, it would be harder for her to interrupt.

Edda took a deep breath. "Uncle Stoick?" The Chief lifted his head to look at her. "I was wondering, uh, I know you really need someone to look after the stables, at the moment. . . Would it be okay if I were to stay here and help out? Just till all this blows over."

Greta rushed to finish her mouthful of food. Fortunately, Stoick got there first.

"It _would_ be a huge weight off my mind," he said thoughtfully, stroking his great beard. "I don't see why not."

"Stoick!" Greta interjected. "How can you say that?"

Her brother held up his hand. "Edda would be working with tame dragons, it would be perfectly safe."

Greta searched frantically for more excuses. "But what about the farm?"

Stoick snapped. "What about my village?" he barked. "You chose to come and live on Berk - you are part of the tribe, now. That means we all share responsibility for each other's welfare. Would _you_ rather go and work in the stables?"

Greta blanched visibly. Einar put a conciliatory hand on his wife's arm, before she recovered enough to try and test Stoick's patience any further.

"I'm sure we'll manage fine without Edda for a few days, dear."

Edda watched her mother's face intently. After what seemed like an age, Greta finally gave in.

"All right," she sniffed, turning to Stoick with a glare. " _But_ , I want your word, as Edda's uncle, that you will not allow her to ride one of those scaly, fire-breathing monsters under any circumstances."

Edda's heart sunk a little. She had to remind herself that had just been granted the most amount of freedom she had ever had in her life. She had everything to be happy about.

Stoick matched his sister's sharp gaze. "I swear."

Edda had to restrain herself from leaping for joy. The rest of the morning went by quickly. She helped her parents remove their possessions from the warehouse down by the docks, where the sailors from the merchant-ship had delivered them, yesterday, and load them into the carts waiting outside, ready to take to the new farm. She hummed away as she worked, and Einar smiled to see his daughter so happy. Not even Greta's foul mood could bring her down.

At last, they were ready. Edda and Stoick waved her parents off as they rattled away in their carts. Uncle and niece turned to one another with identical smiles of relief.

"Thank you, Uncle Stoick," said Edda. "I'm sorry you're in Mother's bad books now."

The great man smiled gently in return, laying a great hand on her shoulder. "Ah, it's alright, my dear. Thank _you_ for offering to help out."

Edda beamed. "Speaking of which, when do I get started?"

Stoick laughed heartily at the eager expression on his niece's face. "We'll make a dragon trainer out of you, yet! Go down to the forge, Gobber'll show you the ropes."

Edda stopped suddenly, remembering something. She looked guiltily up at Stoick. "Ah, I don't know that he'll be too pleased to see me. I lost his wheelbarrow in the ocean, yesterday."

Stoick raised a quizzical eyebrow, amused. "Gobber's not one to lose his temper, don't you worry. He can borrow a wheelbarrow from the stables, for now. You can get him a new one later."

"Okay, if you're sure. . ." Edda still felt a little uneasy as she made the trip down the hill to the blacksmith's once more.

Gobber gave her a cheery wave when he caught sight of her, his broom attachment knocking over a few important-looking objects.

"Edda! Good to see you!"

Edda smiled warily. She had been sure he would be cross. "Hey. . . Gobber! Are you okay?"

"Not too bad, ma wee lass. Just a bit of aching in the old stump, ya know?" Gobber's brow furrowed. "And another strange thing. My wheelbarrow went missing yesterday. Those confounded trolls! I should pay them a visit, eh, Phil?" He smacked the pole of his broom attachment into his fist, menacingly.

Phil bleated. Edda laughed nervously.

"Uh. . . it wasn't the trolls, this time, I'm afraid." Edda scratched the back of her neck. "It was me."

Gobber looked up from rummaging around in his prosthetics box. "Eh?"

"I, uh, had a bit of an accident with it. . ." She related the events of yesterday morning to him, rushing to apologise at the end. "I'm really sorry, I'll get you a new one as soon as I can, I promise."

Edda held her breath, and watched as Gobber processed what she had said. To her surprise, the big man guffawed heartily.

"Ah, don't you worry about it, lass. I'll just borrow one from the stables, like the Chief said. I'm just thankful you didn't lose his axe! That'll have put him in a fine mood for the rest of the week." Gobber attached his hook hand with a clunk. "You can help me make a new wheelbarrow, tomorrow."

Edda smiled in gratitude and relief. She was starting to warm to Gobber, already.

The journey down the cliff to the stables took a lot longer without Toothless to carry her. She eyed the steep walkways she had just descended, knowing all too well that she would have to climb back up them, again. She didn't know how Gobber managed, with his peg leg and all, but the great man was clearly fitter than he looked. Edda followed him inside. It was noticeably quieter in there, without the gang's dragons.

"Here are all the toothbrushes," Gobber gestured at the shelves along the left-hand wall. "They're labelled for each dragon. They get sick, otherwise. Those," he pointed to the rags on the table underneath, "Are the rags for polishing scales. It doesn't matter which ones you use, with those. Just stick 'em in the laundry basket when you're done."

Gobber led her to a large, iron, cage. "We keep the fish in here, so the dragons can't get to it all. There are eggs, too, for the little ones, who haven't cut their teeth, yet." He handed her the keys. "Make sure you lock up every time you use it."

Edda lowered the keys reverently into her left pocket, and buttoned it up. She was starting to realise just how much responsibility she had been given.

"The feeding buckets are just here, with the measurements for each dragon on the wall. The claw files are in this drawer. I sharpen them every week." Gobber turned and opened a nearby door. Stench assailed Edda's nostrils.

"And last, but not least, the manure pile. I'm sure I don't need to tell you why we keep it in here." Edda nodded, holding her breath, eyeing the enormous, steaming pile inside. Gobber grabbed one of the wheelbarrows resting inside the door, and backed out of the door with it.

"Once we've let it sit enough, it goes to the farmers for their crops." The door slammed shut behind him, and Edda let out the breath she had been holding with a noisy huff.

Gobber chuckled. "You'll get used to it. Well, sort of."

Edda doubted it. Still, she didn't mind too much. There was always bound to be a downside to her dream job. She jumped as Gobber clapped a hand to her shoulder.

"And that's about everything, I think! Enjoy yourself, lass." He ruffled her hair gently with his hook, and disappeared.

Edda righted her hair, and got to work. She fearlessly scrubbed the rotating teeth of a Whispering Death, filed the wicked-looking claws of a Monstrous Nightmare, shovelled manure, and polished all the dragons to within an inch of their lives. The dragons, for their part, loved the attention. She was steadily becoming very popular.

Sitting down for a minute, she wiped the sweat off her face with her sleeve and caught her breath. The Hideous Zippleback in the stall behind her nudged at her left pocket expectantly. The keys to the fish-cage jingled. Edda laughed, and gave the dragon a scratch on both chins. Apparently, it was feeding time.

She filled up the feeding buckets to the right amount for each dragon. The amount the Hideous Zippleback was allotted was enough to make her wonder if it had two stomachs, as well as two heads. She locked the cage back up, and went to deliver the food.

As Edda emptied the buckets into the appropriate troughs, she thought she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned around, but couldn't see anything. Frowning, she carried on with her task.

 _There!_ She caught a glimpse of a long red tendril as it disappeared behind a corner. _The Changewing from last night!_ Edda edged toward it, slowly. Hypnotic eyes regarded her warily.

"Hey, it's okay!" she cooed softly. "Would you like some fish, too?"

The Changewing lifted its currently rock-grey head, and sniffed the air, cautiously. Edda quietly approached the fish-crate, and unlocked it again. She dipped her bucket into one of the barrels inside, half-filling it. Leaving it on the floor some way away from the Changewing, she locked the crate and carried on delivering the rest of the fish to the other dragons.

When she bent over to empty her buckets into a Gronckle's trough, she took the opportunity to peek through the gap in the stable door. She saw that the wild dragon had buried its nose in the bucket, and was scoffing down the fish so fast that Edda was worried it would choke. She let herself out of the stall, quietly. The Changewing, nudging its empty bucket, met her eyes and made a small, whining noise.

Edda laughed gently. "I'm sorry, sweetie, I can't give you any more. We're running low on fish, as it is."

Just then, voices from near the entrance startled them both. The Changewing scampered off into the caverns, as the gang appeared. Edda waved to them.

"Hey, guys!" The young Vikings wearily returned the greeting, and slid off their dragons. Hiccup followed up behind them.

"Edda!" he exclaimed. "I thought you'd be at the farm!"

Edda beamed. "Uncle Stoick let me stay, so I could help out here."

"Fantastic!" Astrid punched her happily on the shoulder, but with a little less gusto than usual. Edda was grateful.

"That's great!" Hiccup was pleased, but couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "What did Aunt Greta have to say about it?"

"Not enough, apparently," Edda grinned.

"That's awesome!" Astrid exclaimed. "I can take you flying again!"

Edda's face fell. "I'm afraid that's the thing. Mother let me stay on the condition that I am not to ride a dragon under any circumstances."

"What? That stinks!" Astrid put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, almost as bad as Tuffnut," Ruffnut piped up from behind her dragon.

"Why, thank you, my sister," her brother replied, sniffing his armpits proudly. "I do try."

"You're very welcome, brother."

Edda shrugged, determined not to let her mother's flying ban get her down. "Hey, I get to spend all my time with dragons for the next couple of days. That's more than I ever dared to hope for, before!"

Snotlout grinned at her from Hookfang's stall. "Don't worry, Ed. Hookfang and I'll show you a good time."

Edda doubted that very much. "You all look exhausted," she said, changing the subject. "Why don't you go home and rest? I'll see to your dragons."

Fishlegs looked up from removing Meatlug's saddle. The rings around his eyes were black. "Really? You'd do that for us?"

"Of course!" Edda beamed. "Now go on, everyone, go have your dinner." She shooed them all out. They all thanked her, and obediently left.

Another happy few hours later, Edda left the contented dragons to their slumber, and dragged herself back up to Stoick's house. Hiccup dealt her a huge serving of stew, which she wolfed down, and crawled into bed.

However, despite everything, sleep would not come. Edda stared up at the beams of the spare bedroom, illuminated by the moonlight leaking in through the cracks in the shutters. She let out a small groan. Her limbs felt like leaden weights. At least the Great Hall wasn't far to walk to.

Stumbling inelegantly out of bed, she put her coat on and slipped out of the front door. As she neared the Great Hall, she made out a sliver of light between the doors. One of them was slightly ajar. Edda quietly poked her head inside.

An area of the fire-pit had been re-lit, and she could make out someone silhouetted against the flames. She recognised Fishlegs' profile, button nose and blonde braid down one temple. Easing herself inside, she let the door swing back behind her, alerting him to her presence.

"Edda? Is that you?" he asked, timidly.

"Yep. Couldn't sleep," she replied, coming nearer to the light, and taking a seat on the bench beside him. "Thought I'd come and read the Book of Dragons some more."

"Do you, uh, not sleep often, then?" Fishlegs flushed, clearly embarrassed to be making one-on-one conversation with her.

"Most nights. What about you?"

"N-no. Just tonight." Fishlegs looked down at the book on the table.

Edda was determined to make conversation. "Anything on your mind?"

"Yeah," he said, after a moment. "I can't stop thinking about the dragon attacks. There's got to be a reason they're being so aggressive."

Edda gestured at the book. "So you thought you'd check if there's anything in here that might help?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Why don't I go through it with you?" she suggested. "You can talk me through it, and then that way you might think of something."

"Good idea." Fishlegs looked at her and smiled. He shifted the book across toward her, so that she could read it, too, and turned to the Tidal Class section. It began with the Scauldron. Both of them were pretty familiar with this fairly common and visible member of the Tidal Class dragon family, so they didn't spend long on that. The next dragon was the Thunderdrum. Edda had heard of it, but had never seen one, before.

"One of these was attacking a ship, today," Fishlegs said, frowning. "It's unusual behaviour for a Thunderdrum – normally they only attack when they're being threatened. Otherwise, they keep to themselves." He scratched his head beneath his helmet. "They can even be trained. Thornado was a Thunderdrum, you know."

Edda chewed on her bottom lip. She was equally as perplexed as Fishlegs. Why the sudden change in nature of this dragon?

"The Shockjaw is another dragon that only attacks when threatened," Fishlegs said, turning the page. "Yet it was attacking the other ship we found, this morning. I don't know what to make of it," he sighed.

Edda leaned over the page on the Shockjaw, and studied it carefully. _Fast flier and swimmer, emits bolts of bio-electricity sometimes powerful enough to take down a whole ship. The gang had to fight this thing off? No wonder they looked so exhausted!_

She frowned. "And you're definitely sure the boats weren't threatening them?"

"Nope," Fishlegs sighed. "Not a deep-sea weapon on board."

The two sat in thoughtful silence, till Edda had an idea.

"Maybe it's like my hen, back home," she muttered to herself. She saw Fishlegs' quizzical look, and started to explain. "Pa bought me some chickens for my 14th birthday. They were fairly friendly with me for the first year, but one day I got up to find that a fox had got in and killed most of them in the night. One hen survived, I don't know how. But from then on, she would attack everything that came near her, including me." Edda grimaced at the memory. That chicken had continued to terrorise her every day, right up until they packed up and left for Berk.

"So. . ." Fishlegs caught on. "You're saying that something in the ocean, maybe another dragon, might have been going around attacking everything. And now all the Tidal dragons are in hyper-aggressive mode."

"Maybe," Edda mused. "It's just an idea, though."

"Edda!" he exclaimed. "You're a genius!"

Edda was startled as Fishlegs flung his arms around her, and squeezed her tight. He coloured as he realised what he'd done, and put his hands to his mouth.

"I'm so sorry!" he squeaked.

Edda smiled. "It's okay, Fishlegs. I don't mind."

All the same, Fishlegs was mortified. "I, uh, I'd better get to bed," he said, hurrying towards the doors.

"Night! Sleep well!" she said. The doors banged shut behind him.

Edda laughed to herself. Sweet, intelligent Fishlegs. She could get used to being around him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** Only Edda, Greta and Einar belong to me. Arguably also Stalknip.

 **Author's Note:** Thank you to my beta, **Asian_Inkwell** , and to my followers, favouriters, and reviewers! I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint!

 **Chapter Four**

A loud hammering on the door awakened Edda from her slumber. She groaned and buried herself deeper into her blankets, expecting Stoick or Hiccup to answer it. The hammering continued.

She opened an eye. Sunlight was streaming through the cracks in her shutters. She must have slept to nearly midday. It made sense, as she hadn't got to sleep till just before dawn last night.

Heaving herself out of bed, limbs heavy and aching, Edda pulled on her woollen skirt and jumper, smoothed down her messy tangle of hair, and dragged herself to the door.

A villager she didn't recognise was standing just outside looking rather the worse for wear. He peered inside frantically.

"Is Stoick there?"

Edda rubbed her eyes. "Not that I know of, sorry."

The man grimaced, jigging up and down on the spot nervously.

"What's wrong? Can I help?"

"There's a herd of Changewings in the stables. Somehow they've broken into the fish crate and are eating everything. They won't leave!"

Edda's heart took a sickening nosedive. She had a feeling this was her fault.

The man continued: "We tried chasing them away, but they got really aggressive and started spitting acid at us. We don't know what to do!"

Edda racked her brains. "Go down to the armoury and get me a metal shield. I'll be right there." She shut the door, mind racing. Changewing acid couldn't burn through metal in small quantities. She could do with some more protection.

She ran to the chest in her room with her clothes and dug out her old scale-mail overskirt and helmet. Her mother had insisted that she kept it, even though she'd had no need of it for years. It rankled slightly that she had been right. Edda hated it when her mother was right.

Dumping them on the table, she dashed upstairs to Hiccup's room where she knew he kept a stash of dragon-nip for Toothless. She grabbed it and inspected it for freshness. Hopefully this and already having befriended one of their number would be enough to pacify the Changewings.

Stuffing it into an accessible pocket, she changed into her armour and stuffed her hair down the back of her jumper. She took pride in her red tresses and didn't want them to be burnt off.

Ready, she slammed the front door behind her and took off at a sprint. The nervous villager was waiting for her outside the stables, the round, metal shield in his hand glinting in the sun. Edda took it from him with thanks, surprised to find that it was lighter and wieldier than it looked. _Good old Gobber._

"A-are you really going in there?" said the man, staring at her with wide eyes.

"Yep." Edda swallowed down her fear. She could hear the angry Changewings from here. "I'll be alright. Probably."

She looked up at the man. "If I'm not, promise me you'll make sure my mother doesn't kill the Chief," she joked. He didn't laugh.

Edda readied her shield and cracked open the stable door. She could make out a writhing group of about a dozen Changewings, all clamouring over the pile of fish they'd managed to free from the crate. She edged inside. The other dragons were hiding in their stalls, trying not to be noticed.

"Cowards," she muttered under her breath. She winced, as broken eggshells and fish-bones crunched beneath her feet.

It wasn't long before the Changewings noticed her. Hissing and snarling, they huddled tighter together, making themselves look bigger. As Edda braced herself for an onslaught of acid, she noticed one dragon that remained apart from the others, camouflaging itself to match the grey of the cavern floor. A familiar tendril curled away from it, remaining stubbornly red. She breathed a sigh of relief. It was the Changewing she had befriended before.

Pulling a generous bunch of dragon nip from her pocket, Edda angled the shield away from her Changewing and allowed it to see her face. The effect was gratifyingly immediate. Turning back to its normal shade of red, it greeted her with a gentle snort, crawling forward to bury its nose in the dragon nip she held out to it.

Edda sneaked a peek at the Changewing herd. They had turned to look at each other, growling and rumbling as if conferring with one another. One separated from the group and called her dragon over with an impatient hiss. Edda's Changewing gently reached out and took her bunch of dragon nip between its teeth, scampering over to the other dragon, who was presumably the leader.

Edda watched intently. As far as she could tell, the conversation was going in her favour. The other dragon looked over at her several times and regarded her curiously. It ventured neared. She fumbled in her pockets and presented more dragon nip to the leader. It held its nose up to it, appeased.

All of a sudden, Edda found herself surrounded by Changewings. She froze, arm extended. Noses sniffed at her from all sides. She breathed deeply for a few moments and slowly lowered her shield to the floor. She found the nearest dragon with her hand and scratched gently. It rubbed itself against her legs like a giant cat.

A creak at the door caught her attention and that of the Changewings, too. She turned to see Hiccup and Fishlegs poking their head round the door. The herd around her hissed. Edda soothed them as best she could, scattering dragon-nip around to keep them distracted. She edged back towards the door.

"Edda!" Hiccup whispered. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, thankfully. They've accepted that I'm not a threat. I just don't know how to get rid of them. They've eaten all the fish!"

Fishlegs chipped in. "How in Odin's name did you get them to accept you?"

"I'd already befriended one I found wandering round the village. In fact, I think it's my fault that they're all here." Edda grimaced.

"Don't worry, Edda," Fishlegs tried to comfort her. "They would have found their way here eventually. The Tidal dragons are probably stopping them from getting fish for themselves. They would never come near the village, normally."

Hiccup waved it off. "Never mind that. We just need to figure out how to get them out of here."

Edda frowned in thought. "Maybe if I introduce you to them, we can guide them back to the forest."

"Sounds worth a shot," Hiccup said. "We'll have the others stay outside. Too many of us at once will only frighten them."

"Do you have any dragon-nip?" she asked.

Both boys nodded. "Plenty."

"Good, you'll need it. Follow me."

Edda gestured them inside, making reassuring cooing noises to the Changewings. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Fishlegs' hands shaking, clenching his dragon-nip for dear life. That he was willing to do this, despite his fear, impressed her. She lay a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"It'll be okay, Fishlegs. They took my dragon-nip as a peace offering. They should do the same with you."

The lead Changewing stepped forward, eyes narrowed. It growled deep in its throat.

"Crouch to the floor," Edda hissed, out of the corner of her mouth. Hiccup and Fishlegs obeyed. She bent down and patted their heads, trying to show the dragon that they were her friends. The lead Changewing snorted.

"It's okay, girl," Hiccup murmured, soothingly.

Edda's brow furrowed. "Girl?" she asked.

Fishlegs couldn't resist the opportunity to share his dragon knowledge. "Changewing females lead the pack and do most of the hunting. The males stay behind and laze around," he whispered. "The females are much bigger, too."

Edda looked over at the pack, sizing up the smaller ones, who she now knew were the males. They were only about two thirds the size of the lead female. The first Changewing she had befriended, however, was nearly as big as her. She must be a female, as well, she thought.

The lead female sniffed tentatively at the boys' proffered dragon-nip. Satisfied, she crooned gently, and they were once again surrounded by Changewings. Beside her, Fishlegs froze.

Edda spoke softly, aside: "They've almost accepted us. Hold your nerve."

"I need you both to put your hands out and scratch the nearest dragon," she said to them both. They did as they were told.

The action reassured both dragons and humans alike. Fishlegs visibly relaxed.

"That's the Changewing I made friends with a couple of days ago," Edda tipped her head in the dragon's direction. She tried to get the Changewing to come over for a fuss, but the others hissed at her as soon as she came near. Alarmed, she shrank back into the shadows, turning grey once more. "I recognise her because one of her stalks doesn't change colour, see?"

"Interesting," said Fishlegs, tilting his head up from scratching a Changewing's underbelly. "Maybe that's why the others don't accept her."

"It would certainly make her a liability to have around," Hiccup remarked, similarly engaged.

"And it would be even harder for her to fish without being spotted," Edda mused. "That must be why she came looking for food before the others did."

"Poor girl," said Fishlegs. "She's all alone."

Hiccup looked at the Changewing thoughtfully. "We should name her – she might stick around."

"Well, Edda befriended her first. She should get to name her." Fishlegs looked over at Edda.

She scratched her head. Something to do with her stalk, maybe. . . she thought. Redstalk? Stalkburn? She looked down at the dragon nip in her hand.

"I've got it!" Edda exclaimed. "Stalknip!"

"I like it!" Hiccup grinned at her. The newly christened Stalknip regarded them curiously.

"Now to figure out how to get the rest out of here," he said, poking at the left-over fish with his foot. "Looks like they're nearly finished eating. We could carry the rest into the forest for them to finish off."

"Good idea," said Fishlegs. "They'll follow us, then. Hopefully now they're mostly full, they won't get too aggressive over it."

The friends put their plan into action, gathering up the fish and making their way into the forest from one of the cavern passageways. The Changewings followed with little trouble. Dumping the fish in a secluded spot where the herd would feel safe, they left quietly the way they had come.

Stalknip had followed them at a distance the whole way. Edda called her over and presented her with the salmon she had been hiding down the front of her jumper. Stalknip took the gift gently between her great teeth and swallowed it whole.

Hiccup laughed. "Looks like we're going to have to go fishing," he remarked.

Edda turned to him. "I'm so sorry, Hiccup. I don't know how they were able to break that cage open."

Her cousin waved it off, and they carried on into the caverns. "It wasn't your fault, Ed. We clearly need a better cage."

"If only I could figure out the formula for Gronckle Iron," Fishlegs muttered to himself, his voice amplified by the cave walls. "That would be just the thing."

"Keep working on it, Fishlegs," Hiccup encouraged him. "You'll work it out eventually."

"What's Gronckle Iron?" Edda asked.

Fishlegs' eyes lit up. "It's this amazing metal Meatlug made a few years ago. It's stronger and lighter than normal iron!"

"Wow!" said Edda. "I didn't know that was possible!"

"Apparently it is," Hiccup replied. "Actually, I think that shield you were using earlier was made of Gronckle Iron."

"So that's why it was so easy to carry!"

"Yeah, it's amazing stuff." Fishlegs smiled, then grimaced. "Only thing is, I, uh, wasn't paying attention to what Meatlug was eating beforehand."

"I see. So you've got no idea how to make it again," Edda frowned. "How frustrating!"

"Yep," Fishlegs sighed. "Gobber and I have been experimenting whenever we get the chance, but we haven't cracked it yet. I've got a notebook full of formulas that didn't work."

"Well, like Hiccup said, you're bound to figure it out, eventually."

The three of them had made their way to the stables by this time. The others were there, waiting for them.

"Are you all okay?" Astrid came running over and embraced Hiccup.

"Not even scratched, thanks to Edda," he said, into Astrid's hair. Astrid let go and turned to her.

"I can't believe you went in here on your own!" she said, punching Edda on the shoulder. "You could have got hurt!"

"Yeah," Ruffnut said, awed. "That was totally badass."

Edda winced and rubbed her shoulder. She was pretty sure that would bruise later.

"It's okay, Astrid," Fishlegs reassured her. "She'd already befriended one of them, so she knew she'd be alright."

"Plus, I had a shield, just in case."

Astrid didn't seem satisfied with this, but fortunately Snotlout changed the subject.

"Uh, guys?" he squeaked, leaping off his dragon and patting frantically at his smoking trousers. "Hookfang's reeeaaaally hungry!"

Everyone turned their attention to the Monstrous Nightmare in question. The ornery dragon had set himself aflame in protest at not having been fed.

"Hey, boy," Hiccup murmured soothingly, offering him a spare kipper he had hidden away. "It's okay. We'll find you some more food."

Hookfang extinguished himself and snatched up the fish, greedily. Snotlout, meanwhile, had found himself a trough of water, and sat down in it with a blissful sigh.

Tuffnut grimaced. "Does this mean what I think it means?"

His sister let out a groan. "Not fishing!"

Hiccup shook his head at them. "No, no, not you guys. You'll attract a Tidal dragon in five seconds flat."

Astrid snorted. "Plus, you'll scare all the fish away."

The twins looked relieved.

"How are we supposed to get near enough to the water to fish, in the first place?" Snotlout asked.

"Well, we'd have to leave our dragons behind. No humans have been attacked, so far. As long as we stick to the river, spread out, and keep quiet, we should be alright," Hiccup explained.

"All the same," Astrid put in, "I'd feel better if our dragons were somewhere nearby, in case anything does happen."

"We could leave them a way off, in the forest," Edda suggested. "Then they'd be hidden, but still be within earshot if we need them."

"Good idea," Hiccup nodded. "We'd better get going. It's going to take a lot of fishing to replenish our supplies. I'll go fetch some rods and bait from Mulch and meet you there."

Edda, Fishlegs, Snotlout and Astrid turned and made their way back along the cavern passageways, their dragons following behind.

"Come to think of it," Astrid remarked, as they emerged into the forest. "I'm getting kinda hungry, myself."

"Don't worry," Fishlegs said, somewhat embarrassed. "I've got plenty of food in Meatlug's saddle-pouch."

Snotlout smirked. "What a surprise! Oof!" He doubled over in pain as both girls dealt him an elbow to the stomach.

"That's very thoughtful of you, Fishlegs," Edda smiled at him. "Thank you."

"Plus, one of us can always fly back and get some more if we run out." Astrid hopped nimbly over a fallen branch.

The four of them soon neared the river. Hearing the burbling sound of water, Fishlegs retrieved the pouch of food from Meatlug's saddle and left her with the other dragons to play. Hookfang curled up under a tree and went to sleep.

"They'd better hope they don't wake him up," Astrid joked.

"Yeah," Snotlout raised both eyebrows. "I did that, once. I couldn't sit down for a week."

They made it to the bank of the river and scanned for any signs of danger.

"Looks like the coast is clear," Fishlegs said, uncertainly. "But we'd better do as Hiccup says and spread out."

"One problem, though, guys," Edda pointed out. "I don't have a dragon to come rescue me if there's trouble."

"Edda's right," said Astrid. "She should sit near one of us."

"Uh, you mean me," Snotlout smirked, pulling Edda to his side.

Edda turned to look at him, raising an unimpressed eyebrow. "Really? You want to get hurt again?"

"Anything for you, babe."

Edda grabbed the arm snaked round her waist, starting to twist. Snotlout swiftly pulled away.

"But maybe not now," he said quickly. "I have to, uh, fish. . . and stuff."

Astrid barked a laugh. "You know, I didn't expect a cousin of Hiccup's to be so feisty."

Edda grimaced. "Guess I take after my mother. Did you know she pushed Gobber over a cliff, once?"

"Really?" Snotlout looked up from nursing his arm. "What did he do to annoy her so much?"

She gave him a smile with a little too much teeth. "He wouldn't take no for an answer."

Snotlout swallowed, hard. Astrid and Fishlegs sniggered.

Just then, they heard a gentle flap of wings in the distance. Hiccup soon caught up with them.

"Here you go," he said, handing them a fishing rod and a handful of lugworms, each.

"Thanks, Hiccup." Astrid flashed Hiccup a brilliant smile. "By the way, we were just saying that it would be safer for Edda to fish next to one of us, so she can escape on their dragon if anything happens."

"That sounds like a good idea," Hiccup smiled back into her eyes. "Just remember to keep quiet. Who are you going to sit with, Ed?"

"If you don't mind, I think I'll spend a little girl time with Astrid," said Edda. She flashed a mischievous smile. "I'd like to get to know my future cousin-in-law a bit better."

She linked arms with Astrid and strode off, leaving Hiccup sputtering behind them. Once they were out of earshot, both girls burst out laughing.

Astrid sat down on the bank and hid her face in her sleeve, her face beet red. "I can't believe you said that!" she exclaimed, poking Edda in the ribs.

"Well, it's true!" Edda cast a sly glance over at her. "Isn't it?"

"No!" Astrid protested, fiddling furiously with her fishing rod. "Yes?" She sighed. "I don't know."

Edda took the girl's shoulders in both hands and turned her round to face her.

"I do," she said, earnestly. "Hiccup looks at you as if you are the moon and the stars."

"Really?" Astrid met her eyes, then looked down again. "But what if I make a mistake? What if he stops looking at me like that?"

Edda was caught off guard by the seemingly confident girl's insecurity. It struck a chord with her own feelings about herself.

"None of us are perfect," she said, firmly. "We are going to make mistakes, there's no avoiding that. It's how we handle them that matters. Say sorry, no matter how hard it is, sometimes even when you don't think you are in the wrong."

Edda swallowed, thinking of her own parents' failure to do so and the subsequent misery they caused each other and herself. "Then you will always have his love and respect."

Astrid smiled. "Thanks, Edda. You have a wise head on your shoulders, you know that?" The older girl squeezed her arm affectionately.

The girls got on with hooking their bait onto the end of their lines, careful not to catch their fingers. They watched the river flow by in companionable silence as they tossed their lines in and waited for a bite.

After a while, Astrid leant over to her and nudged her with her elbow. "So what about you and Fishlegs, huh?"

Edda cast her a look of surprise. She hadn't thought that Astrid would pick up on it so early. She gave a shy smile. "He's very sweet, and thoughtful, and intelligent. I like what I've seen, so far. I think he likes me back. Who knows? Maybe in a few years?"

"True," Astrid gave her a wink. "Gotta give the poor boys a chance to grow up. Men are so slow."

"Don't we know it!" Edda laughed.

The rest of the afternoon passed pleasantly in each other's company. Edda no longer felt intimidated by Astrid once she had opened up to her. They laughed together as they swapped stories of Hiccup's antics when he was younger. One such story had Astrid laughing so hard, Hiccup himself came over.

"Hey, uh, guys?" he scratched his neck ruefully. "I'm glad to hear you're having fun, but maybe keep it down a bit more? Wouldn't want to attract any unwanted attention."

Astrid wiped tears from her eyes. "Yeah, sorry. . ." She dissolved into giggles again.

"What are you laughing about?" Hiccup asked, suspiciously.

Edda tossed her head nonchalantly. "Oh, nothing, nothing," she said airily, getting to her feet and picking up her catch. "You know, I might go sit with Fishlegs for a bit. I'm sure Astrid would love to hear a first-hand account of how you got yourself and Pa's prize sheep out of our well. . ."

Astrid burst into another uncontrollable fit of giggles.

"Oh! Oh, that's how it is, is it?" Hiccup threw his hands in the air. "Thanks, Ed. Just what I wanted to talk about."

Edda waved her free hand at him. "You're welcome!" she called after him, leaving them to it.

She trailed along the riverbank for a few minutes, till she found Fishlegs. He was sat on a mossy boulder, engrossed in a book, fishing rod tucked between his legs. Edda cleared her throat. He turned around and smiled when he saw her.

"Oh, hey Edda! Any good catches?" he asked, peering inside her bucket.

"Mostly minnows, but I did catch one salmon." She climbed onto the rock next to him and shuffled into the moss. It was surprisingly comfortable, if a bit damp. "You?"

"A few brown trout and some perch," he replied. "It's not going to last us long."

Edda nudged the book in his hand. "What are you reading?"

He sighed. "It's a record of all known sea-dwelling creatures. I've been trying to find something that might take on all those tidal dragons, but I can't see anything that would."

"I take it you didn't find anything this morning, then?"

"Nothing. We scoured all the areas the attacks took place in. No sign of anything unusual."

Edda pursed her lips in thought. "It's so strange. And none of the larger tidal dragons fit the bill?"

"Not one. A Ripwrecker would have the strength to take them on, but they are known to be extremely reclusive, unless threatened. And what would be large enough to threaten a Ripwrecker?"

They sat in thoughtful silence for a while. The sky began to blush pink as the sun dipped below the horizon.

"I suppose I'd better get back," Edda sighed, getting to her feet. "I have to walk, so it'll take me longer, and I can't travel in the dark."

"Are you sure? I'd be happy to fly you to the outskirts of Berk," Fishlegs looked up at her.

She smiled. "Thanks, Fishlegs, that's very kind of you. But it only takes one person to spot me and I'm toast."

Fishlegs' brow furrowed sympathetically. "I understand."

"Besides," Edda grinned. "Stoick and Hiccup are going to be hungry when they get back. I don't think either of them thought to prepare something for dinner."

"Thanks for helping out today, Edda," Fishlegs smiled shyly. "It's great to have you around."

Edda's stomach did a little flip. "You're welcome. See you tomorrow!"

The sun had disappeared completely from the sky by the time Edda got back to the house. As she had suspected, there was no food prepared for dinner and the only thing in the larder were a sack of potatoes and some jellied eels. _Yum!_ she thought, sarcastically. _Hiccup and Stoick are definitely having those._ Stoking the embers in the fire-pit, she put the potatoes on to boil and starting frying herself a couple of minnows.

It wasn't long after that that the men of the house returned. Exhausted, Stoick shovelled the food down his mouth, murmured his thanks, and disappeared to bed. Hiccup, meanwhile, chewed his jellied eels thoughtfully and stared into the fire. Edda watched the shadows dance across one side of his face.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Her cousin looked up in surprise, as if he had forgotten that she was there.

"Just thinking about the whole fish situation," he said quietly, poking the fire with a stray stick. "It's getting pretty difficult, and we're no closer to working out what's going on."

He glanced over at Toothless, who had downed the few salmon they had caught and was sniffing around for scraps. "The amount of fish we're catching isn't enough. We need something more efficient that won't attract unwelcome visitors."

Edda racked her brain, but drew a blank. "Like what?"

"There isn't anything," Hiccup mused. "Which is why I'm going to try and make one." He got to his feet.

"You're going to do it now?" Edda exclaimed.

"I've got a few ideas that won't leave me alone. I want to try them out," he said.

"Well, it'll take you all night, on your own. I'll come with you."

"No, it's fine, Edda. You need to get some rest."

She laughed, and put on her coat. "Like that's going to happen."

Hiccup conceded the point. "That's true. Let's go, Toothless!"

The three of them made their way down to the forge, now dark and empty. Toothless re-lit the fire, and Hiccup drew out a few rough sketches of his invention. Edda watched, and pointed out a few flaws in his plans. By the time they were happy with the finished blueprint, the fire had dwindled into embers once more. Edda piled on another load of coals, and Hiccup went outside to call Toothless in again.

When he didn't return, she followed him. She found him, silhouetted against the moonlight, watching something. He heard her footsteps and turned to her with a finger to his lips. She strained to see what he was looking at and held a hand to her mouth when she realised what it was.

Toothless and Stalknip were rolling about in the grass, batting each other playfully and mock-growling. Edda turned to Hiccup with a beaming smile.

"She's not alone, any more," she whispered, her throat constricting strangely. _And neither am I._


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** The How To Train Your Dragon franchise does not belong to me :(

 **Author's Note:** Hey everyone! *ducks rotten dragon eggs* Sorry I'm so late! I have been a very poorly human. This chapter is a bit shorter than normal, but I reckoned it was better than nothing. Smattering of Hiccstrid and Eddlegs for you, ShadowSpirit020 ;)

 **Chapter Five**

"Hey, uh, Hiccup?" Snotlout's voice echoed around the cove. "Are you sure this is gonna work? 'Cos, you know, I don't mind a bit of mauling myself, but I guess you guys would."

"Keep your voice down!" Astrid hissed at him. Edda just rolled her eyes, turning her gaze to the calming waves that lapped over the sand below them.

They were standing on a rocky outcrop, half of which overhung the beach, the rest jutting straight out over the ocean. They had ventured out early that morning, while the western edge of Berk was still in shade, a precaution against being spotted by tidal dragons.

"Relax, Snotlout," Hiccup replied from underneath the contraption. "It'll work." He got to his feet and surveyed his handiwork critically. "Hopefully."

" _I_ hope there'll be an explosion," Tuffnut grinned deviously.

His sister agreed. "There hasn't been nearly enough of those, lately."

"There aren't going to be any explosions, I'm afraid, guys," Edda told them, a little disappointed herself. "It doesn't work like that."

"Hey," Tuffnut waved a finger in the air, "I heard 'spring-loaded' in there, somewhere. That totally counts."

"True," she inclined her head, conceding the point.

"The springs are for propelling the fishing lines," Hiccup lifted the lid up for them to see. "They're set to release at different times to minimise the noise when they hit the water."

"So the dragons don't notice," Astrid nodded. "Huh, clever."

"That was Edda's idea, actually." Hiccup grinned over at his cousin.

Fishlegs smiled shyly over at her. "Good thinking," he said.

Edda shrugged modestly. "Let's see if it works, first."

"Okay, guys, here we go!" Hiccup cranked up the machine and stood back.

At first, all seemed to go smoothly. Gears turned, and the fishing lines released, one by one. Snotlout peeked over the boulder he was hiding behind.

Suddenly, a splintering sound rent the air, and the front panel of the contraption flew clean off. The gang watched as the rectangular piece of wood performed several somersaults in mid-air, before belly-flopping spectacularly into the sea.

Hiccup crawled over to the edge of the cliff, and peered down. "Well, that went well," he remarked.

Fishlegs was gazing down warily at the beach. "Uh. . . Hiccup?"

An enormous screech was all the warning they got before the ledge they were standing on was blasted from below. They just managed to dive to safety behind Snotlout's rock before they got toasted, but Edda's face was still stung by a shower of hot sand.

"Sand Wraith!" Fishlegs whimpered beside her.

"Guys, dragon calls," Hiccup ordered.

Hearing their riders, the dragons emerged from the forest at the top of the hill, where they had been hiding, and took to the air. Toothless, unable to fly without Hiccup, perched on the cliff and looked down at them unhappily.

"Toothless, distract him!"

The Night Fury fired a few plasma blasts at the Sand Wraith to draw his fire away from the others. They wheeled around and plucked their riders from the ledge. Meatlug, less agile than the others, landed beside her and Fishlegs.

He clambered into the saddle and held out his hand. "Edda, get on, quickly!"

She was reaching for his hand, when something grabbed her from behind and tossed her backwards. She screamed. Seconds later, a fiery sand blast hit the ledge just in front of Meatlug. The terrified Gronckle took to the air.

Edda found herself dangling from the cliff, hanging on to a thin branch for dear life. Swinging herself towards the rocky edifice to get a foothold, she almost lost her grip when, instead of hard rock, her foot came into contact with soft flesh. Suddenly registering the red tendril in her hand, Edda clung to Stalknip for dear life.

Above them, Toothless and the Sand Wraith were still battling it out. Hiccup had somehow managed to climb on, and the fight had been taken to the air. A loud, screaming, whoosh sounded next to her, as the two hurtled past.

Stalknip took the opportunity to flee the scene. Half-flying, half scrambling up the cliff-face, the dragon had turned yellow with fright. Somehow, she made it up to the grassy knoll, and proceeded to plunge headlong into the forest.

Edda ducked as branches and leaves flew in her face. Her heart lurched as she realised they were going in the wrong direction. "Stalknip, no!" she pleaded, tugging at the Changewing's neck. "We need to go back to Berk!"

The dragon ignored her, instinct taking over. She continued to run toward the heart of the forest, where she had been hatched. Edda gave up fighting, glad at least to get away from the danger.

After what seemed like an eternity of running, Stalknip finally slowed. Edda was about to get off when the dragon made a leap for a nearby tree. Climbing up the great pine, she stopped halfway and curled around its trunk, skin turning a mottled brown to blend in with the bark.

The Changewing had Edda held safely against the tree, beneath her head and her wing. The girl rested her head on Stalknip's soft underside and caught her breath.

"Thank you," she whispered.

After a while had passed, and the dragon still hadn't moved, Edda looked up at her.

"That's your plan, is it? Stay up here all day?"

She struggled experimentally against the Changewing, who merely pinned her harder to the tree.

"I'll take that as a yes. . ." she sighed. "You know, if you want me to train you, you're going to have to start doing what you're told."

Stalknip growled plaintively.

"Yeah, yeah, don't give me that. I know you're just a big softie, really," Edda smiled, running her fingernails over her soft scales.

The effect was most extraordinary. A split second later, Edda found herself plummeting down through the undergrowth. Bracing herself for the impact of the hard forest floor, she was taken aback once more when she felt herself land on a much softer, scalier surface, and bounce off into the bushes.

She was still sitting there, dazed, when a concerned nose came sniffing through the undergrowth. Stalknip's head emerged from the bushes, and whuffled her hair apologetically.

Edda leant on the obliging Changewing's great head, and got to her feet. "It's okay, girl." She laid a hand on her cheek. "It was my fault, too."

"Now," she muttered, "How to get home. . ."

She scanned the surrounding area. No paths marked the virgin forest – only the shallow, meandering tracks of animals, that would lead her nowhere. She knew Berk had to be somewhere south of here, so she inspected the trees for the lay of the moss. Moss usually grew away from the north, she knew. Getting a vague bearing from this, she tried to pinpoint the location of the sun in the sky, but the canopy was so thick, she couldn't tell where it was.

Not knowing how far north-east or north-west she was from Berk, and what obstacles she might encounter inland, she decided to head in the direction Stalknip had come and follow the coast back around to the village.

It took a good hour before she began to hear the sound of waves in the distance once more. Relieved that she had not got herself lost, she made her way towards the sound, stopping just before she left the tree-line. Stalknip followed reluctantly behind her, stealthily climbing from tree to tree.

The sound of the surf soothed her frayed nerves a little, but she kept herself alert. She didn't want to attract any more unwanted attention of the tidal dragon variety, today. The gulls wandering about gave her a good idea of the relative safety of each cove that she came across.

After a while, Edda came across a small inlet where a river ran into the ocean. There were no gulls to be seen, which put her instantly on edge. Movement caught her eye at the further end of the inlet. She quickly ducked behind a tree. _Scauldrons._

Her cheek pressed up against the rough bark, Edda edged round a little so she could observe the dragons and wait for them to pass. With a start, she realised they had their young sheltered in the little cove.

The parents bent their long necks down to feed them. The scrawny youngsters screeched and swallowed the meagre catch in an instant, begging for more. The adults, however, were empty-mouthed, and headed back out to sea in search of more fish.

The coast was clear, but Edda remained where she was. Her mind was puzzling over what she had seen. Scauldrons were at the top of the food chain, but now it seemed they could barely even provide for their young. Their own scales had looked dull, lacking the usual sheen that could be seen from afar.

Edda's previous theories crumbled to dust under this new evidence. Even a foreign competitor couldn't rid the ocean of that much fish. _There must be a fish shortage. But why?_

She looked up at Stalknip, clinging upside down to a nearby tree. Hypnotic yellow eyes stared back at her.

"We've got to tell the others," she whispered. "Any chance you'd fly me the rest of the way?"

Stalknip blinked, and stayed exactly where she was. Edda sighed. "Come on, then, feet!"

Fifteen miles and several blisters later, Edda found herself practically shoved into her bed at her uncle's house, a warm brick by her feet, a multitude of blankets cocooned around her, and a bowl of steaming broth in her lap. It was when Astrid attempted to spoon-feed her some broth that she put her foot down, though – metaphorically speaking.

"Astrid," she said, taking the girl's wrist in a firm grip, and eyeing the spoon still hovering near her face, "Carry on as you are, and you will be wearing that broth. I have my pride, after all."

Astrid laughed, and looked a little guilty. "Sorry," she said sheepishly, lowering the offending spoon, "I guess I got a bit carried away. I was so worried about you."

Hiccup snorted from the doorway. "You should be grateful she didn't punch you, in that case. That's what I always get."

Astrid blinked innocently. "But I make up for it afterwards," she grinned at him.

"Yeaurgh." Edda mock-grimaced, noting Hiccup's glowing cheeks. "I don't think I wanna know."

Astrid turned back to her. "Seriously though, Edda, we're so sorry about what happened. We had a search party out for hours, but we just couldn't find you."

Edda reached out and patted her friend comfortingly on the hand. "It's okay. Stalknip was looking after me."

She paused for a minute. "Speaking of which, has anyone seen her? She disappeared after Astrid spotted me."

The two teenagers shook their heads.

"Sorry," said Astrid, again looking a little sheepish. "I must have scared her off. I still can't believe she went in and rescued you like that! Changewings are normally so skittish."

"It's amazing," Hiccup remarked, coming over to perch at the end of her bed. "You've really formed a close bond with her, and it's only been a few days. It took me weeks to get Toothless to trust me properly."

Edda blushed at the praise. "Yeah, well," she shrugged awkwardly, and smiled, "I had the advantage of living in an already dragon-friendly neighbourhood."

Hiccup laughed at that. Just at that moment, the front door slammed, and Fishlegs came barrelling in.

"Edda!" He wheezed, resting his hands on his knees. "Thank Thor you're okay! Meatlug and I just came in from looking for you."

Edda was startled at his level of concern, and felt heat rush to her cheeks. "You were still out looking for me?"

Fishlegs stopped for a moment, not knowing how to respond. Snotlout and the twins chose that exact moment to burst in behind him.

"Woah, Edda!" Snotlout exclaimed, eyeing her ruined boots. "You walked all the way back? That's tough, man! I mean, I've done it once or twice, but it still hurt, so-"

"Thanks, Snotlout." Edda replied, giving him a smile. For all his false bravado, she knew a genuine compliment when she heard one.

"I told you we didn't need to keep looking for her," Tuffnut folded his arms and looked pointedly at Fishlegs.

"It was funny though," Ruffnut snorted, next to him. "'Edda? Edda!'" she imitated in a high-pitched voice, making her brother double over with laughter.

"Yeah," he said, wiping tears from his cheeks. "With Meatlug falling asleep and crashing into everything. Classic."

"Hey!" Fishlegs snapped. "At least I was doing something."

"We were doing something, too!" Ruffnut put her hands on her hips. "We were yak-tipping over at Sven's. That totally counts."

Hiccup sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Edda decided that enough was enough.

"Alright, you guys," she said, loudly. "Normally, I would be entertained by this, but I have had a very long day. Kindly take it outside?"

Saying goodbye, the twins left the way they had come, Fishlegs shooting her an apologetic look before following them out of the door. Snotlout still stood there, arms crossed over his chest.

"I would have gone with them, but Hookfang was tired, and-"

Edda silenced him with a hand. "No need to explain, Snotlout. Right now, all I want to do is sleep."

Snotlout left the room with a level of meekness that would have impressed his own mother. Hiccup got to his feet and rested a hand on Astrid's shoulder.

"We'll let you rest now, Edda," he said. Astrid got to her feet beside him.

"Yeah," she said, laughing, and making her way out of the room. "I've never seen Snotlout so scared in his life. We'd better get out of here!"

Edda barked a laugh, already muffled by the pillows she had turned her face into. For once in her life, she fell asleep straight away.


End file.
